re: #28 CuriousLurker

What is it with chickens, eggs, and magic anyway?

Some Mexicans believe in a kind of superstitious folk medicine—maybe it would be more accurately called shamanism as these things are also performed by curanderos—where a raw egg is used to draw out illness by rubbing it over the sick person’s body, then placing it under their bed for a period of time, and finally disposing of it in water.

My grandma did it to me once, when I was little and got really sick while staying at her house. I don’t remember all the details, but I think Catholic prayers were also included. When my dad, an agnostic, learned of it he was positively livid.

It was very odd to read about a similar practice in Carlos Castaneda’s The Teachings of Don Juan (at least I think it was that book, but it could have been one of his others as I read more than one).

Ah, here we go: Tricks About Egg Cleansings

Aztec shamans performing a spiritual cleansing ritual in the Zocalo on January 17, 2009 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Getty Image

Getty Image